When future generations are picking through the rubble of our civilization, they will wonder about stuff like this. National Review was a serious publication for intelligent ruling class people. Reagan was a regular reader and credited the publication with informing his views on a range of issues. Bill Buckley was a genius and a polymath. James Pethokoukis is supposed to be their economics guy, yet he displays a staggering ignorance of the subject, often just repeating what the jabbering numskulls on CNBC say every night.

This column is just bad reporting, but he often opines on economics in a way that suggests he could not run a lemonade stand. Dig a little into his bio and you learn that he was a journalism major in college. He has never held a job in business or finance. His adult life has been occupied with writing about a subject he knows nothing. He may be a bright guy and a quick study, but without training or experience, he is wholly unqualified to comment about these subjects. Yet, here he is casting himself as an expert.

This is something you see throughout the media. On television it is a parade of feckless airheads reading from a teleprompter. This now legendary video shows that these idiots will read anything that is put in front of them. Their guests are not much better. They are almost always washouts from some industry who can’t get jobs. Otherwise, they are people better at talking about their field than doing it. There are more retired generals on TV payrolls than on active duty in the military.

The hippies had one thing right. Getting wasted and listening to Led Zeppellin all day is not a great way to spend your life, but dropping out has a lot of merit.